A NEW golf course designed by legendary player Jack Nicklaus is already attracting big-money investment to a former industrial area of West Wales.

A NEW golf course designed by legendary player Jack Nicklaus is already attracting big-money investment to a former industrial area of West Wales.

Nicklaus has designed the new &#xA3;3.5m course at Machynys, Llanelli, and his in- ternationally renowned brand name is having a snowball effect on development in the area.

Although the course, together with the associated housing development, Pentre Nicklaus Village, will not be ready until next year, investors are queuing up to build new hotels.

Carmarthenshire County Council's chief executive Mark James revealed yesterday that the authority was already dealing with no fewer than eight serious inquiries for major hotel development along the Llanelli coastal belt and other parts of the county.

He said the proposed developments ranged from travel lodges to four star hotels - but Mr James pointed out that developers needed a world-class facility such as the Jack Nicklaus golf course to know people would be attracted to the area.

And he added that the up-market housing developments underway in Llanelli - 174 houses in the &#xA3;22m Pentre Nicklaus Village and a further 200 apartments in a separate &#xA3;14m scheme at the nearby North Dock - reflected the "absolutely phenomenal" demand for housing in Carmarthenshire.

Mr James said of the golf course, "In terms of development of the county we see it as being a key cornerstone to lift the whole economy.

"Carmarthenshire has not had anything like this quality of world-class facility before - but we hope there will be more to come.

"An awful lot of interest has been generated in the development - and it will have a multiplier effect. This means that the total &#xA3;26m investment at Machynys will be worth 10 times as much to the county as a whole."

The Welsh Development Agency's Mike King, a member of the Carmarthenshire executive regeneration group, said the opportunities opening up for the county were now "absolutely fantastic".

He said things were finally happening and cited the golf course, with its Nicklaus brand name, as a "great example".

"It doesn't get any better and this sort of combination, mixing golf and housing, even within a Welsh context is almost unique," he said.

"We are really getting on a roll across the county and people are starting to wake up and notice what is happening here."

Mr King said a recent visit to the county by Charles Beane, chief economist at the Bank of England, proved a real eye opener for the member of the Bank's monetary policy.

"He admitted he had not seen an area where there had been such an obvious transformation," said Mr King.

The Nicklaus golf course and housing development is playing a key role in that, of course, and Jim Anderson, managing director of the Nicklaus Joint Venture, said as many as 85% of the houses under construction in the village had been snapped up by Llanelli people.

He said the stunning views across the Burry Inlet to Gower and around to Carmarthen Bay never failed to impress golfers and house buyers alike. The picturesque setting had also made a deep impression on Gary Nicklaus, Jack's third son, who heads the design team.

Although the initial difficulties - over problems encountered with the water table at Machynys together with a change of developer for the housing village - have put back the completion date by more than two years, Mr Anderson said he had no doubt the project had become that much stronger as a result.